This catalogue was published within the context of the exhibition titled Chats with Mouth Shut... by Özcan Kaplan that took place on November 8- December 11, 2016 at Dirimart Nisantasi. The catalogue presenting Kaplan's works of last five years features two texts, one by Rudolf Schmitz and another by Necmi Zekâ. Özcan Kaplan's paintings reach unknown realms through the use of the apparent. The depth of Kaplan's works is correlated with the phases of the production process. It is possible to see countless layers on the canvas, where restarting with the quest to find the unexperimented, selfquestioning and coincidences meet with colors. The search for freedom, thrusted by lines, color successions and brush strokes, ends at a point when nothing else can be added or changed anymore. Kaplan, who lays his life process on the core of his artistic practices, completely alters the timeline perceived by the viewer. According to the artist, his works "... focus on the act of painting itself. They can be defined in terms of timing and some sort of a stratification. This way, the paintings turn into a symbol of a meta-reality. At the basis of this lays existence and being a human. Producing art is a way of seduction, after all." Özcan Kaplan's solo and group exhibitions include In Any Case, Dirimart, Istanbul (2013). Kulturprämie, BASF Feierabendhaus, Ludwigshafen (1995); Kulturprämie, Lindenau Museum, Altenburg (1995); Sieben Tage sind eine Woche, Helaba, Frankfurt am Main; IG Metall Galerie, Frankfurt am Main (1997); Kunstraum Junghofstrasse, Frankfurt am Main (1998); Kunstpreis Junger Westen, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Sprengel Museum Hannover (1999); Frankfurter Kreuz, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt am Main (2001); Malerei, k9 aktuelle Kunst, Hannover (2005); True Colours, Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg (2008); My Generation V, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt am Main (2009); Ö. Kaplan, S. Pick, K. Kamptner, T. S. Vukic, Lange Str. 31, Frankfurt am Main (2014); About Colour, Kunsthaus Wiesbaden (2015).
About the Author: Rudolf Schmitz, born in Wattenscheid in 1951, studied German Philology, Political Sciences, and Art History in Bochum and Marburg. He has been working since 1984 as a freelance critic as well as catalog and film author. Since 1994, he has been writing for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Parkett, Archis, Frame, to name few. Since 1995 he has been working as a film author for the Hessischer Rundfunk, later also for arte-tv. In 2000 he received the Carl Einstein Prize for Art Criticism. Born in 1963, Necmi Zekâ graduated from Bogazici University, Department of Political Sciences. With his thesis focusing on wisdom and justice, he received his M.Phil. degree from Leicester University, where he studied with British Council Scholarship. His poems, proses, and translations are published in Varlik, Adam Öykü, Kitaplik, Hayalet Gemi, Kasgar, and E. magazines. His poetry books are: 20 S.(1993), Roma'ya Varis (1994), and Yavru Aslandan Konu Komsuya (2002). Some of the books the edited or translated are: Bati Almanya'da Alternatif Hareket (1985), and Postmodernizm (1990). His first solo painting exhibition titled devamli, devamsiz was held in 2002 at Sabanci University's Kasa Gallery. Zekâ works and lives in Istanbul.